FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2008

Mark Covington joins St. John’s Mercy Hospital as Mission Services Director

Mark Covington has joined St. John's Mercy Hospital as the Mission Services Director. In this role, he will participate in policy-making, direction-setting, internal and external communications and relationships between St. John’s Mercy Hospital and religious, civic, and church communities; and encourage the mission, vision, values and guiding principles of sponsoring groups within St. John’s Mercy Health Care.

“I am doubly privileged to answer the call to be a mission leader and to do so in the Mercy Health System,” said Covington, who earned his Master of Arts Degree in Systematic Theology from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis in 2003. “Since relocating to St. Louis to attend Aquinas, I developed a great deal of respect for the work of the Sisters of Mercy in the St. Louis area and aspired to one day serve in their health system.”

Covington and his wife, Rachel, live in Ballwin, Mo. The Covingtons have four adult children.

“Having been raised in a small town similar to our local communities, I carry a deep appreciation and sensitivity to the rich sense of community that I know binds the people of the region together,” he said. “I hope in some small measure to contribute to the area's well-being through my work at Mercy.”

Covington brings much experience to the position. He most recently served as the Regional Vice President of Mission Services at Community Mercy Health Partners (Catholic Health Partners) in Springfield, Ohio, where his responsibilities there included the Foundation, Volunteer Services, and six community outreach clinics. Prior to that role, Covington served as an executive for Swope Community Enterprises in Kansas City, Mo., where he assisted with programs that provided comprehensive health, housing, and social services for the elderly. He also served as chief mission and operations officer for Seton Center and Family Health Services in Kansas City, Mo.

Covington earned his Bachelor's Degree in Zoology from the University of San Francisco in San Francisco, Calif., and pursued an executive MBA program offered at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Administration in Cambridge, Mass.

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